Count on Me

Chapter Ten: Arsenal vs Everton

Tying her hair back out of her face, Katrina took a deep breath as she stared at herself in the mirror a little nervous about what she was about to do; she had never thought that she would be doing this.

Mesut had pleaded with her to come to his match and she hadn't been able to say no to him, he wanted to show off in front of her and Katrina was a little curious about watching him play.

Things had been going pretty well for them recently and Katrina didn't want to ruin it, they were still a little bit tense about Mandy's visit but they were putting it behind them now.

"We need to be get going Kat," Nick called wanting to get a move on, he didn't want to be late for the match and he had promised that he would look out for Katrina while they were there.

Mesut didn't want anyone upsetting her especially with his ex-girlfriend around, he wanted to keep her safe and had wanted Nick to keep an eye on things.

Taking a deep breath, Katrina nodded to herself in the mirror before she headed downstairs to meet with her brother; she was a little worried about what was going to happen.

Katrina had spent a lot of her time watching Mesut's matches on television, this was the first time that she would be going to the Emirates Stadium to watch Mesut play live.

"You're wearing his shirt," Nick mused with a smile at the sight of his younger sister, he hadn't been expecting it and he had to admit that Katrina looked good in the Arsenal jersey and jeans that she was wearing.

Katrina chewed on her lip, she just hoped that Mesut would be happy to see her in his jersey; she had wanted it to be a surprise for when she saw him after the match no matter what the result was.

"You look great," Nick reassured her, he knew that Mesut would love the surprise when he saw her after the match; he was just hopeful that they wouldn't have any trouble in the stadium.

***

Sitting in her seat watching the match, Katrina chewed on her finger nails trying to ease her nerves a little; it seemed all the more intense than watching at home, she was so nervous about all of this.

"Will you relax? You're gonna give yourself a heart attack," Nick murmured patting her leg, he didn't know what she was so nervous about all of this but he did know that it would all be fine.

It had been a quiet couple of days and Nick was pleased that things were finally starting to calm down, their parents were even talking about having Katrina come back to work at the restaurant.

"So when do you move back into your apartment?" Nick asked trying to ease his sister's mind, he knew that she was only living with Mesut until her apartment was fixed; he doubted the footballer would like having his girlfriend so far away from him.

The bonding clearly run strong between the couple with Athena and Toula already guessed that Mesut would pop the question around the six-month mark.

"Next month," Katrina murmured with a frown, she hadn't heard much about the process but the repairs were meant to be finished at the end of the next month according to her landlord.

Nick nodded, he was sure that Katrina had missed her place and he knew that their parents would be a lot happier when she had a little bit of space from Mesut.

They were worried that Katrina would completely turn her back on their culture and beliefs, they knew that things were certainly going to be different this time.

With Toula's husband, he had converted to their religion and practically jumped through every hoop so that he could marry Toula; they doubted that Mesut would do the same.

"How's the boyfriend taking that?" Nick asked raising an eyebrow at Katrina, he knew that Athena had moved in with her soul-mate just days after meeting him while Toula had waited a couple of months before she did.

There was no middle ground for any of them and Nick had a feeling that Katrina wouldn't be staying at her apartment for very long; he couldn't wait to meet his own soul-mate for the first time.

"Mesut is being very supportive," Katrina replied watching the match, she smiled a little watching Mesut play and she hoped that he would be okay when she did move back it.

Katrina had gotten comfortable living with Mesut but she wanted to put a little bit of space between them; she wanted to work things out especially when it came to her life.

It was going to be strange not spending so much time with Mesut but Katrina felt like they were on a good path right now; they wanted nothing more than to make this work.

Nick eyed his sister sensing that she was still a little wary, he was sure that their family would come around and that things would calm down soon.

"Ma was talking about inviting Mesut around for Christmas," Nick told her knowing that Maria would be willing to make an effort to get to know Mesut but their father would take time.

Katrina stared at her brother, she hadn't really talked much to Mesut about what they would do for the holidays; she didn't even know if he celebrated Christmas since he was Muslim.

"I'll ask him," Katrina murmured warily, they tried not to discuss religion too much in their relationship since they came from very different backgrounds.

It was safer right now to ignore the situation than to talk about it, it was only going to cause problems later on in their relationship anyway.

Their families were both going to expect their wedding to be done in their religion and neither Katrina or Mesut were sure how they were going to get around that bump.

***

Mesut sighed in relief walking through the tunnel after the match had finished, they had beaten Everton and he was just happy that he would get to see Katrina; he hoped that she had enjoyed the march.

Pausing at the sight of his girlfriend, Mesut couldn't help but smile at the sight of her wearing his jersey; he hadn't been expecting it and he had been just pleased that it was all working out for them.

"You came," Mesut said hurrying over to Katrina, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close; he was so pleased that she was here right now.

A couple of his team-mates stopped to watch them and they smiled pleased that the German had found his soul-mate; they were sure that all the little problems wouldn't matter later on.

"Of course," Katrina murmured hugging Mesut back, she was so happy for him and she'd had a good time even if she had to think about what Nick had said.

Her parents were going to want to actually meet Mesut at some point and Katrina was sort of dreading it, she didn't know how her father was going to react and if Mesut did spend Christmas with her family then he wouldn't just be meeting her parents.

Mesut ducked down and kissed Katrina, he loved that he was able to do this now and slowly they were moving forward; he was just dreading the moment that his family would meet her for the first time.

Gulizar wanted to meet her son's soul-mate and hated that Mesut was finding reasons for them not to come and meet Katrina for the first time.